Stone Solitude (34 page)

The wolf shifted, leaving a naked man glaring at her. “You bitch.”

“Jon,” she breathed, his name coming out as a whisper. Pressing her hand over her racing heart, she tried to tamp down the well of elation that threatened to bubble up within her. It wasn’t Roman! But then the reality of the situation crashed down around her because she hadn’t thought about Jon since he accosted her at the mall. She had never given him the Siren’s kiss goodbye.

“Of course it’s me,” he growled, still more wolf than man. “I’ve finally lured you to my cave.”

“This is my hotel room,” she told him, trying to concentrate on her memories of him, of their time together, but it was nearly impossible. Jon had occupied a whopping zero percent of her thoughts in the past year and it was obvious that she had occupied far more of his.

Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his, forcing the memories back into him. Instead of releasing her, he slid his fingers into her hair and held her steady as he took more. Fear gnawed at her as she struggled against him but he was too strong.

“Shift, bitch,” he growled, pushing her down to the bed. Leaning over her, his eyes lit with madness, he sneered, “I want to claim you as a wolf.”

“I’m not yours to claim,” she breathed, her blood raging through her veins as she tried to figure out if there was any escape for her. If she died, it might be for the best that Roman had no memory of her so he wouldn’t have to mourn her. When Jon snarled at her, she held up her hands and squeaked, “I can’t shift, Jon.”

“Then this is going to be brutal,” he growled, a maniacal grin curving his lips as he started to shift.

With a surge of adrenaline, she shoved him off the bed and flew off the other side. “Don’t do this, Jon.”

“Did you really think you could kiss me goodbye?” he asked, halfway between a man and a beast. “You’re my fucking mate and I’m never going to let you go.”

“Jon,” she said, thinking if she said his name often enough, it might reach the sane man deep inside of him, the man he used to be. A year of living under the spell of the Siren had really screwed him up and she just prayed there was still a rational man she could reach. “Think about what you’re doing.”

“I’ve thought of little else since I met you,” he snarled, falling to the ground onto all four legs. The man was gone completely as the wolf looked up at her with his blue eyes.

“Dominic!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, lunging towards the bathroom as the wolf moved behind her. With barely any space to spare, she slammed the door shut as Jon slammed his body against the door. Twisting the lock, she turned around and leaned against the door, trying to catch her breath, wondering how long the door would keep the determined wolf out.

And then she wondered if she really had to go to Alaska. Maybe she could ask her dad if she could put off Alaska for a few months, maybe a few years. A loud thump against the door made her bounce forward and she knew that the door wasn’t going to hold forever. If she had her phone, she’d be able to call her brother, whose wolf was far stronger than Jon’s since Dominic was the son of the Alpha.

Was this her punishment for chasing after Roman? For refusing to let him go? Or was it her punishment for being unable to shift? If she had bonded with her wolf, she would have been able to fight in her wolf form; she would have been able to protect herself. Or was this her punishment for singing in a bar full of hormonal wolves? Whatever it was, she was fairly certain she had learned her lesson.

She hadn’t known – she hadn’t wanted to know – that Jon Sorensen held her in some affection. When she sang, it must have twisted his emotions somehow and his unrequited love became an obsession for someone he could never have. Even if she escaped, there would be no escape for Jon. He was going to become like the men of legends, languishing away at the bottom of the sea for a Siren. No, he was a feral wolf. There was no escape for him, only death.

There was another thump against the door and this time it was followed by a loud crack. Tears tracked down her cheeks until she heard the bedroom door open. “Daisy?”

Dominic! Without a thought of self-preservation, she threw open the bathroom door and bellowed, “Shift!”

But Dominic had already shifted and he had Jon’s throat between his steel jaws. Despite being clearly defeated, Jon continued to struggle. A third wolf joined the fray. Jeanette. There were loud yips and bone breaking sounds and pained-filled howls and within seconds, the fight was over and Jon was dead. He should have shifted back but he must have been too feral, more animal than man, to make the change, leaving him forever stuck in his wolf form. Shifting back, Dominic looked to Jeanette, running his hands over her face, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she breathed, running her hands over him as well. “Are you?”

“Thank you,” Daisy breathed, unable to tear her gaze from poor Jon. He didn’t deserve such a fate but she didn’t know that he would have had a better ending if he had lived. Pressing a hand against her stomach, she frowned. Why was her belly wet? She swayed on her feet as she realized Jon had managed to mark her after all, just not in the way he had hoped. Now that she was aware of the wound, it hurt. A lot.

Grabbing her robe off the bed, she slid her arms into the sleeves and tied it shut as she joined Dominic and Jeanette on the floor. She didn’t want to alarm them if her injury turned out to be insignificant. Or perhaps she wasn’t thinking clearly at all, since there was a dead wolf on her bedroom floor, a death for which she was responsible. “Um, I don’t know if now is the time to say anything but we need to head to Alaska next week. Unless you don’t want to go, of course….”

“Alaska?” Jeanette asked, her eyes lit with excitement despite the dead body lying on the floor next to them. “It would be perfect.”

Crap, they were going to go to Alaska. With her head pounding, Daisy realized the injury was worse than she suspected, since the blood was already soaking through her robe. Licking her lips, her eyes darted to Jon before she added, “Also, I think I might need to go to the hospital.”

Dominic’s head shot up and he looked at her. Holding his gaze, she waited for him to ask what the problem was when he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. After a heartbeat, he swore before he wrapped his arms around Daisy and hefted her up off the floor. With a grim expression, he asked, “Jeanette, can you take care of this mess?”

“I’ll call hotel security and let them know a wild… dog somehow got in,” she murmured, already taking charge of the situation as Dominic took care of Daisy.

She was never going to sing again. Ever.

Staring out across the small waterfalls to the pine trees that were so green against the white, snow-covered ground and the blue Alaskan sky, the sound of rushing water soothing his thoughts, the man knew two things: his name was Roman and he was a wolf, at least some of the time. He was almost certain that it hadn’t always been that way because it had freaked him the fuck out when his wolf first whispered in his head, to say nothing of the first time he shifted. If it hadn’t been for the pack Alpha and one of the elders, he doubted he would have survived the transition. Of course, he could have been born a wolf and had just forgotten, though that didn’t feel right.

He had been living with his pack for over a year, ever since he woke up in the hospital with no memory of who he was or where he came from or even how old he was. They guessed his age to be somewhere between twenty-four and twenty-seven, though sometimes he felt ancient, as if he had lived a hundred lifetimes and was worse for the wear. Occasionally, he had fucked up dreams of a different time and a different place, of being a man, of being a beast, of flying through the air, of living in squalor.

Then there were the dreams of a girl with flashing silver eyes, a heart-melting smile, and these were the dreams that were driving him mad. She seemed so real that he could feel her in his arms, taste her on his lips, and when he woke, the ghost of her remained. But she couldn’t possibly exist. A creature that luscious was surely the creation of his fevered imagination.

Maybe he just needed to get laid. He had no idea how long it had been since the last time he had sex, since he hadn’t been with anyone since waking up in the hospital. Who knew how long it had been before that? It could have been days or years or maybe he had been a monk and had never had sex and he was a virgin, though that didn’t feel right either. Without knowing who he was, he hadn’t wanted the drama of a relationship, even a strictly casual, no-strings-attached, kind of relationship. But now…. There were plenty of offers from the beautiful females in his pack. Unfortunately, none of them were
her
.

Curiously, there
was
an odd little creature that frequently brought Roman gifts. He called himself Xerec and guilt burned in his eyes whenever he looked at Roman. Roman briefly considered the possibility that they knew each other from before but whenever he asked, he was met with silence. The creature opened his mouth but never said anything before he looked away and simply shook his head no and handed Roman another gift. The gifts always had daisies on them, from the paintings that now hung in his living room to the purses that he had no use for. It seemed that if an item had a daisy on it, the creature gave it to him.

It was very strange and yet somehow very fitting.

Daisies. They were his favorite flower, so delicate and surprisingly strong and resilient.

In the time since he had woken up, he had established a decent life for himself, getting a job at the local bar where the wolves liked to hang out, renting a small apartment close by, and making a couple of good friends. Despite the fact that it felt as if something were missing, it was a good life. A peaceful life. Now he wanted someone to share it with, someone who was real and not a fantasy. Unfortunately, he wasn’t ready to give up his fantasy, not when she was the embodiment of everything he hungered for: warm and sweet, sensual and tantalizing. She was a temptation he could not resist, even if she wasn’t real.

But it was the hidden waterfalls where he spent his free time. It was a special place he discovered on one of his first runs as a wolf. He had gotten lost… no, he had wanted to get lost because it was too difficult living amongst strangers and being a stranger to himself. It was a struggle trying to get through the day not knowing who he was and he had just wanted it to end and so he ran. But then he crashed through the heavy woods and saw this paradise and something warm settled in his soul, telling him he was going to be alright. During the summer months, the water sparkled and even though it was frigid, he swam in the calm pool. Now that it was getting colder, he didn’t risk freezing off his junk for a quick swim. Even a hot-blooded wolf had his limits.

Breathing deep of the cold and clean air, he closed his eyes and let his worries go. He could spend days up there, weeks if he thought he could get away with it, because the loss of all of his memories didn’t bother him so much when the sound of water drowned out his thoughts. Up here, he could see
her
just a little clearer and it didn’t matter if she wasn’t real. He knew he’d have to give her up if he wanted to start any kind of relationship with one of the wolves but he didn’t have to do it just yet.

“I should have known I’d find you here,” Xavier, his mentor and best friend, said, loping over the ground to join Roman on the edge of the waterfalls.

Xavier sat down, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs as he stared out over the visage. The wolf was ancient, with long silver hair and deep wrinkles from living a hard life, but he was also wise, intelligent, and sharp as a freaking tack; nothing got by him. The wolves looked to him for his wisdom, though he kept so much to himself. His secrets ran deep and the man would disappear for weeks at a time, though he always seemed to appear whenever Roman needed him. Luckily, Roman’s panic attacks were virtually a thing of the past and he was settling into his new life.

Releasing a sigh of deep contentment, Xavier murmured, “This place is so peaceful. I can understand why you want to spend all of your time here.”

“Yes,” Roman said with a grin, breathing in the crisp, clean scent. Leaning back on his arms, he glanced at Xavier and asked, “So, what brings you here? Is there a problem within the pack?”

“Nothing so dire as that,” Xavier grinned, his hazel eyes sparkling. “I’ve been informed that we are going to have some visitors in a few days and I’ve come to see if you’re ready to deal with a few more strangers.”